GENERATION 11

GENERATION 10

Biography

WILLIAM GIFFORD evidently arrived in New England after 1643, as he does not appear among those able to bear arms in that year. The first original record found for him is among a list of debts due on the inventory of Joseph Holiway "of Sandwidg", which shows "It. dew from Willi Gifford" 3s 4d, 4 Dec. 1647.

In 1647, WILLIAM was at Plymouth Colony, where he was a Quaker. He was banished from there for "not following religious laws", and fled south to Sandwich, Barnstable, MA. He is thought to have had as many as 20 children, some by a second wife, Mary Mills, who he married in 1683. He was known as "William the Elder".

WILLIAM served on the Grand Enquest, Jun. 4, 1650. The original deed for the Sandwich plantation was executed by Gov. William Bradford on May 22, 1651. WILLIAM GIFFORD was included as one of four men who "shall have power to call a town meeting."

By 1651, he was married and the father of a family, but there has been no proven record of his wife's name nor that of his parents. There is speculation that he was married in London, at St. Martin-in-the-Fields church.

In 1658, The Plymouth Court ordered that a record be made of all land holdings, and this was done in June at Sandwich. WILLIAM's land is there listed. In that same month, June. 1, 1658, he was one of a dozen men who "all of Sandwich were summoned, appeared to give a reason for their refusing to take the Oath of Fidelitie to this government and unto the State of England, which again being tendered them in open court, they refused, saying they held it unlawful to take any oath att all." At the same Court the notorious constable of Sandwich was appointed Marshall of Sandwich, Barnstable and Yarmouth. William and others were fined £5 each, on Oct. 2, 1658. This was the beginning of the vigorous persecution of the Sandwich Quakers.

At the Mar. 1, 1658/59 Court, "Marshall George Barlow complained against WILLIAM GIFFORD and EDWARD PERRY in an action of defamation, to the damage of £100, in saying he took a false oath. The jury find for the plaintiffe. Each of the defendants to pay 50s and to make their acknowledgment publickly, which if they refuse to doe, £5 apiece and the cost of the suite."

As Quakers they could not accept the verdict and on Oct. 2, they were each fined five pounds. Later in October, WILLIAM was again fined £5 for an incident involving Marshall Barlow. The following year he was fined again £5 for refusing to take the Oath, and in October, 1660, he was fined the enormous sum, for the period, of £57. To not pay the fines would mean imprisonment, but there are no records of such imprisonment in the Plymouth records. Since there is no record of WILLIAM for several years it is possible he left the area. It is known that two of his sons were in New Jersey, which was governed by the Dutch.

On Apr. 8, 1665, WILLIAM was a signer of the "Monmouth Patent" in New Jersey. But, by 1668, he had returned to Sandwich. By then, King Charles had issued a royal decree which put an end to Quaker persecutions. WILLIAM obtained ten acres of land at the northwest end of Hog Island (Chappaquoit).

Marriage intentions were filed at the Sandwich Friends Monthly Meeting, held at William Allen's house on May 4, 1683. He married Mary Mills at the Meeting of Jul. 16, 1683. The will of WILLIAM GIFFORD was dated Apr. 9, 1687, and proved at Sandwich, Mar. 9, 1687/88. He gave his son CHRISTOPHER only a "cross cut saw and a new payer of shoose," but the records show that during the father's lifetime he helped him acquire land, both in New Jersey and in that part of Falmouth called Tetaket.